Explosive compound.



W. '0. WADDELL.

EXPLOSIVE GOMPOUND. APPLICATION FILED JUNEM, 1913.

15105 865, Patented Aug;4,191 4 llvvnvrok C,

WILLIAM C. WADDELL BY v- PM. W

To all 20]; om it may concern earns ANT enrich.

WILLIAM C. WADDELL, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO HOYNES SAFETY, ?OWDER COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

EXPLOSIVE COMPOUND.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 4, 191 4.

Application filed June 27, 1913. Serial No. 77$,69.

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. VVAoonLL, citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Explosive Compounds, of-which the following is aspecification.

This invention relatesto explosive compounds adapted more especially to be usedin mining coal but not limited to such use, and the invention consists in a powder which is manufactured and supplied to the trade in units or pellets of spherical or substantially spherical shape and of uniform size and density, all substantially as shown and described and particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1, 2 and 3 show cross sections of cartridges containing my improved powder in progressive sizes.

The wide range of difference in the character of coal to be mined and in the product desired requires explosives that vary equally thereto in density and time of combustion, and the production'of the explosive in pellet or spherical form gives the manufacturer complete control over all such conditions and needs. Furthermore. it is a well known fact that porous and friable grains of small density will be reduced to dust by the initial pressure of their own combustion in bore hole, and by th s increase in burning surface presented, will cause a variable combustion. By making a hard dense pellet of uniform size the ditliculty is overcome and the rate of combustion brought under control.

Of course I am aware that granulation of explosives is old and well known and I am not laying claim herein to anything within this common form. In fact, I would expressly disclaim granulation in the ordinary sense or as heretofore practised as wholly outside of my invention, because by converting a powder into spherical units of fixed size and density I advance the manufacture of powder into a new class which has heretofore been unknown and which establishes new standards of excellency, and efiiciency. I

In substantiation of my claim, and in explanation of what I mean by the defects or failures of mere granulation as heretofore practised and as compared with the pellet,

- pill or spherical form in which my invention is embodied, it is to be observed that- 1. An explosive in a finely divided state, that is, in small and irregular granules, including dust, is liable to pack and harden in the containers in which it is marketed, whether these be kegs, cartons, or cartridges, thus rendering the powder unfit for use until it is again broken up into a finely divided state.

2. The crushing of powder which may have solidified after manufacture and before use by consumers who are not familiar-with the dangers attending such operation and without the facilities for doing the work, is dangerous and should be avoided, if possible.

3. his necessary that an explosive should be of required density in order that it may not occupy too large a space in bore holes for blasting purposes. Yet this density should not be carried to an extreme that would limit or destroy the regular and prompt combustion of the powder granules. An explosive that is too light in density or that varies so much in density that its combustion would be irregular cannot be advantageously used by miners.

l. It is necessary that the. density and the size of the powder granules shall be such that when ignited or detonated the powder shall burn with regularity in time, to pro duce the best results.

5. Vlhen an explosive is to be detonated, if it is compact or dense to the point of hardness, or is too light and loose in the con-' emphasizes the necessity that the explosive shall, in any event, have such form, density and firmness as to withstand the rough handling of transportation and the rounded unit having no sharp edges or thin portions liable to be rubbed off in dust meets these requirements in every particular.

7. That the granulated powders vary in density, size and shape, and that in mere granulation it is physically impossible to have even approximate uniformity in these several particulars; that such powders cannot burn uniformly, however fired, and that they cannot be satisfactorily detonated because of the variety in sizes and density of the granules. Furthermore, there is no fixed uniformity in the size, shape and density of the powder from which a miner can choose according to the conditions of his mine, the character and hardness of the coal and the form in which he wants to put out the product. In fact there are many admitted defects in mere granulated powders, as such, which have long been known and which are confessedly serious but which, so far as I am aware, have not heretofore been overcome or remedied.

Now, I have approached this problem with a solution which meets at least all the above enumerated obj ect-ions and others, and the remedy lies in the radical change of the explosive unit from an irregular and more or less friable granule of indefinite form and uncertain density and possible reduction to dust in shipment, to a unit which will not crumble and is uniform in density, size and shape and can be manufactured in any size, from a bird shot up to such size as may be required. The advance of this improvement in the art over mere granulation may therefore be further summarized as follows:

1. That the pellets pack with regularity in cartridges or bore holes, and thus insure uniformity in the combustion throughout the charge. p

2. That pellets in spherical form can be produced of the required maximum size, and this size of pellet is subject to the control of the manufacturer making the powder and according to the needs of his customers.

3. In spherical pellets all of the material used enters at once into the formation of the pellets and no part of the material is retained for subsequent use, as in the manufacture of black blasting powder grains, where the dust and small granules are sent back to the mills for re-working into larger grains. This results in economy in the handling of the materials but once, instead of many times.

The spherical pellet enables the manufacturer to produce an explosive exactly adapted for any special work by the exact sizing of the pellets and the density given to them.

5. The spherical form has greater ciliciency in use than powder in the form of irregular and varying sizes of grains, such as black powder, because the spherical pellets can be made uniform in size and they will burn in. regular time, and progressively, the speed of combustion. depending on the gradually increasing heat of the powder charge. This regular combustion can not be obtained to any such perfection by an explosive in any other form than the spherical and the uniform density herein described.

, 6. The selection of a definite size of spherical pellets for any required work, and the regularity of time within which the combustion of such powder would take place, enables the miner to estimate with greater precision the size of the charge of powder he will use, and in making this selection he can more definitely determine the results that will follow.

7. With such regularity in the density of the powder units and the proper size thereof, the efficiency and value of the explosive is assured and the use of the explosive as herein described is made possible.

It is material in this manufacture and article that thc pellets shall be of the same composition and density from center to-cir-- cumference and not like apothecaries pills which have a body of one. composition or substance and a coating of another.. Furthermore, by whatever process or method the pellets may be made, as by compression or rolling and tumbling, it is of prime importance that they be rounded so as to avoid edges or portions which may be rubbed down into dust by abrasion under the ordinary effects of transportation by rail or vehicle. In the rolling process, particularly, all the pelletsare spherical or substantially so, and by passing the product through a suitable separator-they become graded as to sizes and substantial and practical uniformity in each grade is made certain in this way. If molded the sizes and shapes are fixed by the molds. It may also be added that by compressing or compacting the units in rounded form as herein described the velocity of rise of pressure can be regulated within Wide limits; Thus, in a test with black powder, it has been found that in dust form it burned within 0.0015 of a seceond;

in grain form in 0.0057 of a second and in a compressed form in 1.56 second, thus showing the advantage of the pellet form herein described. Furthermore, if "the grains of the powder become disintegrated before they are completely consumed through effects of.

heat and gas pressure developed in the bore hole,.the grains crumble away, pressure becomes violent and regular progressive combustion ceases to obtain. However, by building the powder up in pelletsof, uniform size and density and with uniform interstices be tween pellets throughout -the cartridge or acter anol density throughout and the several 10 bore hole 1t must of necessity burn evenly units belng substantially uniform in size.

and rogressively. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature at I claim is: in presence of two Witnesses. As a new article of manufacture, a blast- WILLIAM C. NADDELL ing explosive especially adapted for use in mining coal and composed of a shot-like Witnesses: aggregate of small, imperforate spherical E. M. FISHER, units, each such unit being of uniform char- H. F. FISHER. 

